Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018: Pinch-hitting goalies rule the day in PKs

Leading off today: The penalty-kicks drama got crazier by the game Monday night as the sectional girls soccer playoffs continued to wind down across the state. A few examples:

• Mattituck/Southold/Greenport senior Francesca Vasille-Cozzo scored the game-winner in penalty kicks as the team advanced 5-4 over top-seeded Babylon in the Suffolk Class B championship.

The teams drew 3-3 through the end of overtime.

In its first year as a combined team, M-S-G (9-8) advances to the NYSPHSAA quarterfinals Saturday against Wheatley.

M-S-G trailed 3-1 after Babylon's Erin MacQuarrie scored midway through the second half, but Jillian Golden connected twice in the final 15 minutes to equalize.

The teams traded goals in the first four rounds of penalty kicks, and M-S-G's Sarah Santacroce, who played in the field during regulation and OT, and Emma Ward of Babylon made saves on the fifth and sixth attempts.
Babylon's seventh try sailed high and Vasille-Cozzo clinched advancement by putting the ball into the left corner.

• It took nine rounds of PKs, but Schoharie beat Lake George 5-4 after the teams finished overtime tied 2-2. Lake George forced OT by rallying from two goals down.

"We went nine kickers deep," Lake George coach Stephen Kohls said. "You're splitting hairs between two teams when you go that many kickers deep."

• Fort Ann and Northville combined for eight goals in regulation and overtime, them went a combined 3-for-10 on penalty kicks, with Fort Ann prevailing 2-1 over Northville in the Section 2 Class D semifinals.

The Cardinals, who are 0-for-7 in championship games, will face New Lebanon for the title on Wednesday, thanks largely to four goals in regulation by Sarah Paige, giving her 43 on the season.

Fort Ann coach Jason Humiston threw a curveball at Northville by inserting midfielder Amanda Godfrey in the nets to face the penalty kicks after she opened the sequence by converting her Round 1 PK.

"I just wanted to have an athletic senior in there," Humiston said. "Amanda's super quick and has great instincts."

Fifth shooter Kayla Bailey converted her attempt to advance Fort Ann.

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On the move: Daniel Scott, second-team all-state in basketball as a Park School junior last season, is leaving for Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, The Buffalo News reported.

Scott, a guard who has offers from Canisius, Niagara and Kent State, has scored more than 1,700 points in a career that began as an eighth-grader with Christian Central Academy. He transferred to Park School before his sophomore season.

Scott is the third Park player to transfer in the offseason. Six-foot-9 Julian Eziukwu, who would have been ineligible this season based upon his age, transferred to Lee Academy in Maine. John Orogun, a 6-foot-11 rising junior, transferred to New Jersey basketball power St. Benedict's.

Athena coach exits: Rob Cerone, head football coach at Greece Athena for 24 seasons and part of the program for 31, is retiring with a 141-75-1 record.

Cerone graduated from Greece Athena 37 years ago, where he played cornerback for the Trojans. He will also retire from teaching at the end of the year.

Alumni news: An aspiring agent wrote of a plan to pay former Christ the King basketball star Rawle Alkins and his family $50,000 while he played for Arizona last season, ESPN reported in a lengthy story over the weekend.

ESPN reported that Dawkins sent an email to partner Munish Sood on Sept. 5, 2017, that spelled out a plan to pay Alkins $2,500 a month through April 2018, plus another $30,000 in travel expenses for Alkins' family.

It's not clear whether Alkins received any money or was even aware of Dawkins' plan. If he did receive money, Alkins could be declared retroactively ineligible for some or all of the games he played in last season, resulted in vacated wins and/or the return of the school's postseason revenue.

Not just a N.Y. issue: Improperly filed paperwork has cost three Tennessee high school football teams five or more victories apiece this season.

"We try to tell administrators if you feel like there is a gray area, and we don't feel like there is -- we feel like they are consistent in our interpretations -- pick up the phone and call," TSSAA Executive Director Bernard Childress said. "We'll be glad to walk you through anything you have questions about.

"The problems we see now is they won't do it. We want to catch it on the front end. We don't like dealing with it on the back end."

The TSSAA received 2,005 high school transfer forms during the 2017-18 school year and 1,683 athletes were ruled eligible. Many cases deal with the rule requiring a bona fide change of address in order to switch schools. Otherwise they cannot play a varsity sport for 12 months since the date of their last game.

The association asks each school to verify the submitted info, and the schools run the risk of getting caught breaking a rule if details are inaccurate.